Internal combustion engine catalytic converter

ABSTRACT

In the Air Standard model for any Internal Combustion Engine it is assumed that the Air/Fuel Mixture combusts instantaneously and the thermal energy is delivered immediately. However in real world applications a certain amount of time is needed for the reactants to combust. Therefore, as the reactants combust more rapidly, the performance of the engine approaches the Air Standard Model. In an Internal Combustion Engine which burns petroleum based fuel, a catalytic coating of platinum in the combustion chamber will cause the A/F mixture to burn more rapidly and causing the flames speed to increase. This will increase the Internal Combustion Engine&#39;s Mean Effective Pressure (MEP). This rapid burning of the reactants (A/F mixture) brings Internal Combustion Engines closer to the Air Standard Otto Cycle, the Air Standard Diesel Cycle, and the Air Standard Duel Cycle in Piston Engines and the Air Standard Brayton Cycle in Gas Turbine Engines. Because the catalyst actually lowers the activation energy of the reactants (Air/Fuel mixture) the incidents of Piston Engines “missing” and “flameout” in Gas Turbine Engines will be reduced. In Spark Ignition Engines, because fuel will burn more rapidly the “unburned mixture” which can ignite and cause knocking will have less time to ignite before they are consumed by the flame front. Because of the increase in flame speed a greater percentage of the A/F will be converted into carbon dioxide and water, less “unburned mixture” will be left over from the exhaust stroke to cause knocking.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

When I was about 7 my parents gave me a chemistry set for Christmas. Ididn't really learn anything useful from it. This is because the peoplewho made it didn't show any chemical equations, probably because theydidn't think kid could understand them, ha! However, I became veryproficient at using the lab equipment. Fast forward to high school, Iunderstood what was happening much better than the other students,although my grades were less than praiseworthy because I was never booksmart. This is where I learned what a catalyst and enzymes do. I alsostarted working at a place called the Blue Beacon Truck Wash were Ilearned what a catalytic converter was and many facts about fuelefficiency. For example, a truck with an empty dry box trailer consumedas much fuel on the highway as a full one. Reducing the weight of thevehicle only effects city fuel efficiency. After college, one of thefirst designs I perused was the hybrid, but in laying out the basicdesign I realized that the basic design violated the LAW OF CONSERVATIONOF ENERGY and THE FIRST, SECOND and THIRD LAW OF THERMAL DYNAMICS.Remembering that cars had catalytic converters, what they did and howthey did it I concluded that a substantial amount of the air/fuelmixture must go through the engine without being burned. Having a 1988Ford Thunderbird, I decided to test this theory. This vehicle had a MPFI3.8 L V6 and a 4 speed overdrive transmission. It was first benchmarkedthe vehicle's fuel efficiency at 50 km/h in the city and 110 km/h on thehighway. With MacEwen's Ethanol: 12.5/23 mpg (USg) (lower energy contentthan gasoline) With regular gas:   16/29 mpg (USg) (fuel designed forSFI engines) Regular gas with Techron   19/34 mpg (USg) (Detergents,fuel or fuel injector cleaner designed for MPFI or gas treatment:engines, also good for SFI.) BENCHMARK With aftermarket “PERK”   23/44mpg (USg) (additive: Atomizer pills mixed with fuel: and detergent)(note: Aug. 29, 2003, temperature gauge dropped to lowest point abovecold)

From the results of this test I concluded that massive fuel economygains could be made through pure chemical engineering applications.

A couple years before, my father had purchased a device called the“GASAVER” for his 1979 Cadillac Broham D'Ellegance. It had a TBI 425 CIV8. My dad ordered a GASAVER I installed it. When I read the instructionI had found that the car had to be driven 200 to 2000 km for this deviceto start working. Upon reading this I didn't think it would do anything,but is did. The car's average fuel efficiency increased from 12 mpg to17 mpg.

Remembering this I concluded that what must happen is that the catalystare deposited on the top of the pistons and in the combustion chamber inthe head, this is why it would need to be run in. This is about the timewhen I was starting to find out the transmission in the T-Bird had seenbetter days and it was time to look for a different vehicle with lessmileage. Also, the vehicle should be a mid size car with a 4 cylinder tooffset the power gains caused by the increase in energy conversionefficiency. Less displacement would be required to effect an adequatepower to weight ratio. The vehicle that was selected was a 1986Oldsmobile Cutlass Cierra with a TBI 2.5L 4-cylinder engine and a3-speed automatic with a locking torque converter clutch, which Ioriginally thought was an overdrive gear. This engine was also chosenfor it's reputation for being mechanically indestructible and it'sreputation for overheating. Mechanical integrity was important becauseof the horsepower gain. Overheating was important because I wanted tosee if and engine could withstand the higher combustion and operatingtemperatures. Basically this was a “lets see if it will break anything”car.

Adding the GASAVER increased the car's highway range from 400 km to 550km on 50 L of fuel at 110 km/h. However, in the city it was a differentstory, the GASAVER can be washed out by excessive cold starts, WYNN'Sgas treatment, Petro-Canada's Techron gasoline and PERK pills. If thecar is run on the highway, however, the fuel economy gains followthrough in the city. This also re-enforces the theory that catalyticdeposits collect on the top of the piston and the bottom combustionchamber in the heads. Adding an extra vile of platinum carrying additivemade it work in the city. This also indicates the combustion chamber andtop of the piston were coated. Finally when the GASAVER was removedafter the second vile was added and run for 4000 km and removed it stillcontinued to work for another 500 km. On the Cadillac I remember thatthe exhaust went from a smokey white to clear once the GASAVER wasinstalled. For the first time water would run out of the exhaust when itwas driven away hot. Just like a new car. It took 2 stages of exhaustmounted catalytic converters on the 99 Lincoln Town Car 1 saw do this.The Oldsmobile also did this after the GASAVER was installed.

The last parameter laid out was transparent conversion. There must be noloss of reliability. It is designed without compromise.

This is why platinum is specified as the catalyst to be used. This iswhy no mechanical modifications are specified. The catalytic coatingmust be inert, not susceptible to contamination from air, fuel or oil.It must also be resistant to the acids formed in the by-products ofcombustion, including nitric and sulfuric acid. If there is sulfur inthe fuel, sulfuric acid will be present in the exhaust. If there areever any Nitrous Oxide in the exhaust nitric acids will be formed.Eventually these acid compounds dissolve any thin coating that is notcompletely inert.

Choosing the Catalyst

Ceramics can both be contaminated by fuel and oil and dissolved byacids. Eliminated. Nickel, Cobalt, Palladium are attacked by nitric andsulfuric acid. Eliminated. Iridium and Osmium oxidize when heated inair. Eliminated. Furthermore, from the chemistry books I had read andthe information published by the National Fuel Saver Company Platinumwas the obvious choice.

Platinum is not oxidized by air. Platinum cannot be contaminated by fuelor oil. Acids formed in the exhaust do not attack platinum. In factplatinum is used to make acid proof containers. BINGO! Reference datafrom MERCK INDEX, 9 ^(th) Edition

June 2003

Me and a couple of my friends went to Beamsville Ontario for a couple ofdays before camp Omaph in the Toronto area for a weekend designed tohelp singles meet other eligible singles. This gave the GASAVER a chanceto really shine because my car was driven on the highway consistentlyfor a long distance. In the beginning the temperature gauge in the carwould climb about ⅔ from the bottom to the top of the scale. If theNational Fuel Saver Company's surmise that only ⅔rds of the air/fuelmixture burned in a normal engine than the temperature gauge should haveclimbed higher still. When I almost back home in Cornwall, I noticedthat the temperature gauge had dropped to only ⅓ from bottom to the top.Two days later I realized there must be a great increase in thermalefficiency for the operating temperature to drop off so sharply. So Iborrowed my friend's Fundamentals of Engineering Thermodynamic book tofigure out what really was happening.

Building the Internal Combustion Engine Catalytic Comverter into andEngine

All surfaces in an Internal Combustion Engine that will come in contactwith a large proportion of the reactants (A/F mixture) as it passesthrough the engine will be coated with the elemental metallic catalystPlatinum. The thickness of the coating should be 10 nm to 1 um thick. Itshould be attached by electro-plating or anodization.

In piston engines the top of the piston (see FIGURE#1) and thecombustion chamber should be coated. For the purpose of this designcombustion chamber entails the entire area on the bottom of the cylinderhead, which is above the piston. (see FIGURE#2) In engines with morethan two valves per cylinder the bottom of the valves should also beplated with Platinum. See pictures of Performer LT1 Head # 61909 and thepicture of the engine block that shows the area on the top of pistonsthat should be electroplated of anodized.

In gas turbine engines the combustion chamber (can, flame holder,combustor; see FIGURE#3) and the turbines (exhaust fans, see FIGURE#4)should be plated with Platinum. See pictures of Turbine/Compressorassembly and the Flame Holder or “Can”.

BIBLIOGROPHY

FUNDAMENTALS OF THERMALDYNAMICS 3^(rd) edition by Michael J. Moran andHoward N. Shapiro. Copyright John Wiley & Sons Inc. ISBN 0-471-07681-3

-   -   Chapter 9 pages 375, 378 2^(nd) paragraph, 381, 390

REED'S MARINE ENGINEERING SERIES, Volume 12, MOTOR ENGINEERING KNOLEDGEFOR MARINE ENGINEERS by Thomas D Moran, Extra First Class Engineer'sCertificate, C. Eng., F.I Mar. E. copyright THOMAS REED PUBLICATIONSLIMITED ISBN 0 900335 52 1

-   -   pages 3, 7,8

CHEMICAL PRINCIPLES 2^(nd) Edition by Steven S. Zumdahl copyright D.C.and Company ISBN 0-669-39321-5

-   -   chapter 15

Gasoline FAQ's 1 to 4, by: Bruce Hamilton@http://www.repairfaq.org/filipg/AUTO/F Gasoline.html, Wednesday, Aug.20, 2003

1. Platinum, by catalytic action reduces the activation energy of theAir/Fuel mixture causing the rate of combustion to greatly increase. 2.Lower activation energy also reduces the incidents of “missing” inPiston Engines and “flameout” in Gas Turbine Engines. If “flameout” doesoccur, the lower activation energy of the Air/Fuel mixture in thepresence of the catalyst will facilitate relighting.
 3. The reactants,the A/F mixture will burn more rapidly, increasing the engine's meaneffective pressure and increasing the amount of heat yielded by thefuel. These two effects bring the performance of the Internal CombustionEngines closer to the Air Standard Models.
 4. Increasing the engine'smean effective pressure increases the engine's specific power output.(More torque throughout the power band, more trust for jet engines.) 5.Because the engine's specific output increases without an increasing theamount of reactants (A/F mixture) or enriching the A/F mixture thespecific fuel consumption will be reduced.
 6. Because the Mean EffectivePressure increase more of the heat created by the combustion processwill be converted into mechanical work, thus increasing thermalefficiency.
 7. Because the combustion will be more rapid a higherpercentage of the A/F mixture will burn and the exhaust gasses will becleaner.
 8. In spark ignition engines, because of more complete andrapid combustion this device will allow for greater ignition advance ora higher compression ratio. (Advancing the ignition timing is the betteroption because it increases the Mean Effective Pressure and theElectronic Control Module can adjust the settings automatically.) Thiswill result in more complete combustion eliminating most flat spots inan Internal Combustion Engine's power band.